I’m delighted to say that Heidi is now officially potty trained!

This is such a departure from our experience with Dexter, I can’t quite believe I won’t have to rush around training her before she starts nursery in September. It’s such an achievement and we couldn’t be any prouder of our beautiful newly independent 2.5 year old.

We owe a great deal of thanks to Huggies Pull-ups for helping us throughout this journey. Their support was invaluable and their website pottytraining.co.uk was my go-to when the whole thing was getting me down. We followed their 6 Steps to Potty Success which provided tons of inspiration and advice as we hit the various roadblocks that PT throws your way.

I’ve addressed several of these stages in previous potty training updates, but thought I would pick up where we left off so you can see how we crossed the finishing line with Heidi. There is such a sense of freedom when your child is potty trained; you can ditch the hefty baby change bag, there’s no more last-minute dashes to smelly unsanitary change rooms and no more bulk-buying Sudocrem - it really is worth putting the effort in.

Step 5: Be Consistent 24/7

This was a lot easier than we thought. Our training happened to coincide with last year’s heatwave, so Heidi spent a few months bare-bummed at home, before getting the hang of Huggies Pull-up’s (she struggled to pull them down at first being two years old and all), then eventually embracing her first set of tiny Disney knickers.

That first few trips out were pretty nerve-racking. I packed a zillion pairs of shorts and knickers and spent the duration on crotch-watch anticipating Heidi would soil herself. Yet this just never happened. It proved that Heidi was able to hold it in when necessary. We both quickly grew in confidence and it soon became second nature to leave the house nappyless.

Dry through the night is hit or miss with Heidi, but she does wake up when she’s had an accident, so is very aware of being wet. With a little more time, we hope we to have this nailed too.

Step 6: Keep Up The Great Work

Although I consider Heidi to be fully trained, it’s important not to get complacent. Regression is very common for potty-training toddlers, and Heidi does sneak upstairs to her favourite patch for a naughty-wee on occasion. PottyTraining.co.uk has dozens of tips to help you tackle this, and you might even decide to take your foot off the gas if your child really isn’t coping, but it was clear to us that Heidi’s indiscretions were entirely deliberate.

We dealt with these hiccups quickly and decisively and (thankfully) they’re now far less frequent. Heidi has always responded very well to praise so reward charts work well here, as does talking to her like big girl - she’s made so many positive steps, I try to focus on these as much as possible so she knows what a great job she’s doing.

Watching her grow up and gain her independence is so rewarding. Every day she seems to learn something new, and we’re so proud of her. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

So thank you Huggies Pull-Ups and Dr. Heather Wittenberg for all of your help. We’ve learnt a lot and I’d wholeheartedly recommend the #6Steps approach if you are thinking of taking the leap with your child.

Why not join Heidi and I (and scores of others) and follow the 6 Steps to Potty Success program? Head on over to pottytraining.co.uk for tips, resources and for tips, resources and money-off coupons for pull-ups.